John Oliver tries to sway the Canadian election

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On Last Week Tonight, John Oliver takes on Canadian politics the night before Canada’s parliamentary election. In what is being called a “grueling” 78 day campaign by a country that doesn’t seem to know how cute that sounds, some of the candidates are even more ridiculous than the ones leading the polls in America. John reports that one candidate, who runs an appliance repair business, was caught on camera urinating in a mug during a house call. Another candidate, who runs a school board, didn’t know what Auschwitz was. And while these are candidates for local seats, in Canada, the prime minister is decided by whichever party wins the majority of these local seats. So, every small race matters.

The leading candidates are little less absurd than those running for smaller seats. Liberal leader Justin Trudeau, son of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau, is being pegged by opponents as being naÃ¯ve and unready for office. John helps their case by showing a clip of him purposefully falling down a flight of stairs. “It is somewhat satisfying to watch a soul-patched man named Justin with a French accent just fall down some stairs.” Yet, despite his antics, Trudeau is leading in the polls over incumbent Stephen Harper, who, John believes, due to xenophobia and frequent program cuts, is decidedly worse.

John reveals that it is against the law for someone who does not reside in Canada to convince voters to vote, or refrain from voting, for a particular candidate. But, as usual, John Oliver refuses to be silenced, and brings out a host of Canadian characters to speak out against Stephen Harper.

Caleb is the founder of The Lanx. He is a scholar of satire with a Master's focused in satiric rhetoric, propaganda, and political cartoons. He also studied comedy and satire at Second City and UCB. He runs The Lanx from Los Angeles.
calebstenzinger.com

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